FULL THROTTLE!: The Badass Returns

~Low clouds loom overhead blocking out the sun for the most part. The sky is a dark gray color, only letting light through in a few small pockets. Where it shone through, it was bright, gleaming. The wind whips around wildly, blowing through trees and whispering into the air. ZK had been listening to the wind, hearing the secrets it told through the trees, though he paid them no attention. It was aimless gossip of the weather. He stands at the edge of a cliff somewhere where the Alps of Chaos once stood tall, now left in a crater; he would have to tell Kham to fix that. He inhaled deeply drawing on a bit of chakra, then exhaled sending a pulse of his own energy through all of known Vescrutia. With a smile, he waited as he toyed with a ball of fire he remembered he could produce. It danced in the air as he moved it around with no more than a passing thought.~

*Atra appeared looming over the deep crater that ZK was standing in. He sighed to himself as he looked among the mass of nothing and assume that he destroyed it all.*

"Ugh.. do you guys ever let things stay the way they are?"

*He said as he slid down the crater with his hands in his pockets, sliding on a streamline of wispy shadow until he was a bit away from ZK on the same plane. The winds wisping in his air, making his shadow look even more ominous.*

~ZK took a look across the way to Atra, smiling lightly. It was some time before they had crossed paths and Atra was looking a lot different with his white hair. Looks like everyone cool was sporting it nowadays. Too bad ZK's was alllll natural. Wait, no it wasn't. Oh well. He paid very close attention to the shadowy tendrils around Atra; he knew what Naras were capable of and did not want to be put in the same situation he was in the first time they met in their ranking exam.~

But, y'know, being a beast has its collateral... But what's all this pleasantry for? I'm looking for a nice fight. You in?

~The fireball ZK was playing with floated over to Atra, changing its shape into a "Yes/No" symbol. He made a smuuuuug smile hoping he had run across a good opponent. If not, he'd wait for the next catch.~

*Atra shrugged, why not shoot the breeze with a lil manly pissing contest.*

"Sure...I've got business here anyway."

*He let the winds fill the crater, as he used the time elapsed to recollect what the first ranking exam with Zero was like. It was hazy... probably was unimportant to him at the time. But as far as he was concerned, it wasn't like ZK was all that amazing.*

"First move lord kage..."

*Atra did a full blown bow from his distance, his fists clenched at his sides. His shadows stopped blowing with the winds.*

~ZK laughed as he holds his hand in front of him and calls the χ-blade to his hand in a swirling blast of light and darkness. He smiled almost evilly as he twirled the weapon between his fingers for a second and stuck the blade into the ground.~

I still hate the bow though.

~The ground exploded-- nay-- catcalysm of white fire and purple lightning exploded from the ground under Atra wide enough to trap ZK and more than wide enough to take out anything within a few hundred feet. ZK stood there unaffected, more fire and lightning spewing forth straight up into the sky in a ray of destruction bright enough to illuminate the deepest depths of the ocean, a testament to its strength and size. ZK looked on, pouring more and more chakra into the explosion, propelling it further and further into the sky. Atra bowed and ZK was going all out... Looks like this may be a fun battle after all.~

*Atra emerged in the explosion's aftermath, a large expansive gargoyle encompassing him as if he were hugging him, guarding him from ZK's initial flex of power; Atra's manifestation of his soul wavelength possessing the durability of every hardship he endured and overcame all his bent up pain and emotional strife. Like ZK, Atra was different than he was before and he had obtained a couple tricks on the way. The gargoyle began to remove itself from around Atra as he chuckled to himself.*

"Looks like I was the only one who successfully bowed in the presence of ZK."

*With that, Atra cut to the chase... he waited. Patiently for ZK's first move. Whether or not ZK did one of two things was going to decide how Atra was going to fight for the rest of the match until ZK switched it up.*

~ZK chuckled under his breath, making a note to kick Atra in the head sometime down the line.~

I guess submission is your thing.

~ZK took the χ-blade from the ground and hung it over his shoulder. He didn't expect Atra to make it from the explosion, so he didn't think of what to do next. But whatever it was, it wasn't going to be a direct attack since that would be quite silly.~

Hm... I guess we can see how much that gargoyle can take...

~ZK took a step forward, winding up a strong swing of the χ-blade. It glowed for a moment, just enough to produce a small glowing shell around it. Then he swung the blade forward, whipping the shell towards Atra spinning hellishly quick. He shouldn't be able dodge it since it was going so fast, so blocking it would be his only option. And once blocked, it would be too forceful to be thrown off, so it would grind into Atra, keeping its course and wearing him down. It was not to be taken lightly.~

*The Gargoyle quickly condensed into an extremely thin drill whose tip was like a rapier covering Atra's hand spiraling around it to a halt. He shoved it forward, the blast hitting it first of course due to the speed that it was going at cracking the shadow glowing with a purplish hue. However, the shadow was compressed to a point that could pierce through the hardest of energies the densest of substances. And the nocturn that was practically atras soul wavelength, was a symbol of his hardheadedness didn't falter easily. From the way it looked to ZK, it may have seemed that his blast dissolved itself around Atra's hand. But Atra pierced through it.*

"Strike a nerve?"

*He said, after this occurred... while Atra was stressing through ZK's blast that lasted for a couple seconds Des'Noir leapt over the blast turning into a streak of shadow going at speeds ZK was familiar with would fly towards ZK. Hit, he would be shadow possessed. Miss... it would turn into an expansive sea of Shadow Water nearly instantly as Des'Noir glowed with a yellowish hue symbolizing sun flame reaction. Atra and Des'Noir... the multitasking team.*

~ZK made a seal at an almost invisible speed and shot a Shadow Clone from himself, poised with a Chidori in his right hand and A Rasengan in his left. The clone smiles as it blasts into Des Noir, hopefully blowing the damn thing up, but at least keeping it at bay. ZK wasn't sure of what this thing was or what it did, but he knew since it was Atra's, he didn't want to get touched by it. The real ZK on the other hand did two more hand seals and his chakra blazed around him, engulfing him in a giant blue flame.*

Kinda.

~ZK then jumps back off the cliff, falling off into its almost infinite descent. The Alps were very high, but it was nothing compared to the sense of speed he loved. At a decent drop off, he pulled his bow from his hat, calling the Spirit of Thunder into it. As per usual, a bolt of lightning is fired from the bow, much larger than the distance of the cliff he just fell from. It engulfed the edge and a good chunk of its distance inward, more than enough to take care of Atra and Des Noir in one blow. the recoil sent him flying to the ground, but it was cool. He bounced back and started running back up the rock face readying another arrow. If Atra had survived, or even his whateveryoucall dark thing Des Noir, he had to be ready to take some defensive maneuvers.~

*Des'Noir headed for ZK's clone and the streak that he was divided into several other streaks that landed in the ground and began to expand in an expansive sea of shadow water which trapped the clone's reflection freezing it in it's movements, the clone was dragged under the shadow water never to return along with Atra. The shadow water was so expansive that it began to seep off of the alps like a black rain. ZK's lighting bolt stuck scattering the water every damn where making it seem like it was raining black.*

*Said Atra floating down the ground, his sun flame ring let again turning every drip of shadow water into a Vanitas Des'Noir looking clones... they numbered in the good hundreds of thousands falling with Atra and ZK. Their sun flame enhanced speed allowed them to morph into whatever they wanted... some morphed into ZK (thanks to him capturing his reflection with the clone) some into Kham. Some into Shinta, and some into Bloom. It was rather critical at the moment. Atra stopped falling standing on a platform of condensed shadow water while the hundreds of thousands of super powered clones fell towards ZK. Now the floodgates were open...*

*The Kham clones began to pound the air in front of them using their superior strength to send down shock waves of power towards ZK the impact of which he should be more than afraid of. The Shinta clones commenced with Setting dark portals behind the falling ZK and around him making this a cylinder of portals, should ZK fall in he'd just fall back into the massacre. Atra above it all of course. The Bloom clones were the bogus posse of boss bitches, they blew up filling the cylinder with awesomeness explosion that zk himself should fear it would be recycled into the dark portals over and over and over until ZK was finished. The sun ring made everything Atra look instant but he shut it off now, had to use it sparingly. It did damage to him the more he used it.*

"This ring... can break even your limits."

*He said that last bit softly enough that only he could hear it as the multitude of explosive sounds, portals and shockwaves filled the air. He figured ZK would bitch out and warp. But he'd find that impossible as well. For the area that the portals outlined was his ability to lace a portion of this world with that of the shadow realm. The only way out would be to physically muscle your way out... but ZK can warp and die if he so chooses.*

~ZK was astonished at what had just transpired in the instant he started making his approach. Why was Atra this fast? Why did he fight him? Why is everything yellow? This shit just got turned to 11 as Atra went dead in on ZK, trying to seal the deal. ZK wasn't one to back down though. He took this as a chance to really flex his muscles.

ZK took the initiative to look like a complete badass and head straight through the darkness. He took a large lunge forward, disappearing completely and sending a shockwave through the cliff wall that would shake Castle Hellgate. It had been some time since he was actually pushed this far, which is surprising since he just recently fought an enraged Kotonryu. His speed had exceeded all possible precognition and evolved into movement. ZK no longer held a form, nor existence at this speed. He was the pure essence and force of speed itself. This left him without a shadow or even a physical presence on this plane of existence. Still, he was able to act on objects on this plane, and that ability was what kept him able to come back to this plane when he stopped. From ZK's perspective, everything went black and all that was visible was the outline of energy flowing through things. He used this to mount his counterstrike.

ZK exploded almost out of existence.

The explosions would start off small, but as they gained power, they would only do brunt damage to ZK through his movement. Only the force affected him, and it did considerable damage. Much too much to be hit by the Kham clones punches. He maneuvered between them with relative ease, but the pain was mounting rather quickly. Through ZK's completely invisible movement, he took the chance to slash through every clone Atra made with his bare hands. Covered in absolutely nothing, he tore through each one, making his way to Atra quickly. He knew the risk he was taking in touching them, but he didn't have a shadow so all should be fine.

As he plowed through all opposition with an immeasurable swiftness, he made his way to the left of Atra, returning to this plane looking rather tattered. His body was literally skewed backward for a millionth of a microsecond, but it wasn't enough; ZK was nowhere near done. He only had time to look at Atra long enough to say something so fast that the voice came far after the action.

ZK swung the χ-blade down and brought a hellish bolt of lightning from his body. Charged through the χ-blade, it was made only that much stronger by the power of his own heart. The bolt was a dark purple color, resembling a plum's coloration. It also grew from a flash of light produced by the χ-blade since ZK was still very careful not to touch Atra or be close enough to be touched easily. The bolt first expanded outward, then vertically to engulf the whole cylinder of darkness, the clones, Atra, and ZK. This wouldn't hurt ZK at all since it was just lightning, but Atra should take some serious damage. In the least, Atra would be hurt by the physical presence, burned and physically drawn to the ground quickly.

The shockwave of the lightning being released would grow and grow off of the continuous chakra ZK fed into it, not stopping until ZK chose to do so, so the explosion continued ad infinitum. Atra seemed to think that a simple corralling maneuver was enough to do ZK in, but he hadn't counted on ZK's resistance to control.~

*Atra had a serious gut feeling that ZK was going to get out of this one, but that's why he made ZK clones... these clones waited until ZK would attack and warp to Atra's side manipulating the portals as best they could to get to Atra's side, but even that speed wasn't enough some... fuck it... most were destroyed. They were meat shields basically creating reversing mirror reflects layered with reversing mirror reflects as hasty as unhumanly possible to limit the damage that ZK just did. Still, it sent atra pummeling to the ground. His body damaged, the pain? Nothing... getting his ass whooped by Kham felt worse but that didn't change the fact that his body was damaged. All his clones dissipated, his plan shattered. But that meant nothing. He landed on the ground with his feet. Turning right side up softly to tap the ground creating a MASSIVE crater Kham should be worried about. His burnt skin repairing itself now... He looked up at ZK his body beyond tattered, but by no means exhausted. His shadow wisping in the winds and Des'Noir looming out of it throwing himself around Atra.*

"Round two? Or a commercial break..."

*Atra said loud enough so that ZK could hear him. ZK being in the air gave Atra a shadow to manipulate, but the impact of the attack hit him mentally so he couldn't multi task like he normally could. He was weighing his options...*

~ZK looked down on Atra, standing on the side of the cliff face. He saw his shadow below, just close enough to Atra to be a problem, but far enough to be a bit of a safe point for now. He began pacing, breathing a little heavier now. Not that he wasn't used to going that fast, but it was all REALLY sudden and it was a complete risk. The fact that he got out of it without being shadow possessed was such a relief that he damn near had an orgasm when Atra fell. He laughed and yelled down to Atra.~

I don't know, man. I'm down for whatever you're down for. I got a few new tricks I wanna try out.

~ZK saw no trace of his bow he used with the Spirit of Thunder... Guess it was destroyed either by the explosion or the lightning. Either way, he needed a new one. Sucks that he can't take weapons with him when moving that fast. He waited for Atra's reply and hoped he wouldn't try to snake him. That would be a cheap trick.~

*Atra heaved a sigh of relief that ZK was on the same page that he was, not snaking him... booting him under the chin at light speed. The cool epic of the area was almost too distracting for Atra to notice how much of a golden opportunity he would have to shadow possess ZK. But it was in the back of his mind.*

"Well lets not loose momentum huh?!"

*Atra decided to take it a bit slow, but keep the epic going. With all things considered, using his soul wavelength may be the best option and he still had some tricks up his sleeve for those critical moments. Though he would make it a personal note to block every time that weird ass sword came out. Two Vanitas' looking Des'Noir came out of his shadow, They leapt up in the air and swiped at the air in front of them letting loose a very vanitas display of black lightning that headed towards zk from below. This lightning sent shadows across the cround heading towards his own at the same time. An attack from two fronts. All the while... Des'Noir was glowing pink.*

*ZK saw the lightning heading for him and thought it would be cool to reflect it. He put up a wall of Mirror Force a good distance in front of him, far enough to both reflect the bolts back at Atra but to also give ZK enough time to do something about the shadows if they kept coming. It could always have been a ploy, so ZK had to be extra cautious. The lightning was sent back and ZK ran off to the side, around the rest of the cliff and completely out of sight. There, he was planning something, but it wouldn't be revealed yet. He decided to one up Atra.~

*The Des'Noir then plunged into the ground heading towards ZK's shadow after all of this was finished. The shadow that was rather close yet too far away at this point they aimed to shadow possess ZK stopping him in his tracks. Atra waited as he and Des'Noir's union drew ever closer. The intensity of their souls merging nearing its completion. Until then he sat there with his arms crossed. ZK was being too cautious and an overly cautious foe was the bane of Atra.*

~During his run, ZK had made a hand seal and began drawing up chakra. He hadn't used water in a really long time, but what a great time. He kept running, making sure to not be touched by Des'Noir. He made his way straight up and turned around, spitting a 3 foot orb of water right at Des'Noir. It then expanded and exploded into a tidal wave large enough take down a blue whale. It was still controlled by ZK, so after it swept up Des'Noir, the both of them, it headed straight for Atra, curving around the cliff and creating an angrily gaping mouth in its front. It wanted to eat him. ZK was trying something different, and if it didn't work, he would just take the chance to go for the ringer.~

*One of the Des'Noir leapt up from their shadowy state as the spherical pwnage of water was heading his way, it wasn't like the other couldn't shadow possess it. He did, and the former Des'Noir merged with it, destroyed it and kept going towards ZK's shadow, all Atra needed was a very brief moment to stop the orb for the process to occur. Whether or not ZK still controlled it originally was irrelevant.*

What's he thinking... "Seems like your the only one who can keep running away from my shadows."

*Atra said as ZK seemed to just be backtracking. But it didn't matter,he muttered under his breath while his ring flared up.*

"Tamashii no Kyoumei."

*Des'Noir floated up slowly as Atra's soul wavelength began expanding exponentially by the second and would eventually take up the area and the world in a moments time. Doubling, quadrupling... Atra was going to go for the ringer. It seemed that this was the only way to put ZK in a corner. they were too good at keeping one another at bay. And it pissed Atra off. ZK geetting put in the range of Atra's soul wavelength didn't do any damage, or anything weird. It just placed him inside. He didnt have absolute control either... tis his soul resonance. Lacing the shadow realm with a section of this world.*

~ZK saw a rapidly expanding field of chakra. coming straight from Atra. Lucky for him he had those eyes ripped from Zeik; had he not, ZK would probably had run headlong into his demise. In his evasion of Des'Noir, ZK missed his chance to keep himself directly out of trouble so this had to end very soon. With it being so dark, Atra could Shadow Possess ZK so much more easily and that was a problem. If shadow possessed, ZK more than likely will have lost the fight. It was time for the battle to take a dive from its climax.

ZK shot off the top of the cliff high into the sky, blazing with chakra. As he gained altitude, his blazing chakra compressed into a tight shell around him, glowing more and more bright, yet even more so volatile as he gained height. His body began to vibrate with so much power. Outside the dark cloth he was trapped in, the sky would turn black, chakra drawn from it into one focal point, ZK.

He looked behind him to watch Des'Noir still on his tail, so he couldn't stop in midair like he usually would. So he made a spiral in the air and ducked back through its midpoint aiming right at Atra at lightspeed. It was the attack that ZK had only been able to use once before, but it was still perfect for the situation he was in. It was time for the...~

INFINITY KICK!!!

~He shot toward Atra at lightspeed, aiming right for his chest with a glowing kick of meteoric proportions. Atra had few options with the speed ZK was moving at but at the end of the day it probably ended the fight no matter what happened. Fate had its own decisions.~

*Atra was observing the process unfold, he had never seen this technique before so he assumed that it was something improvised. However any amazing buildup of chakra that changed the environment was never anything good. He reacted as fast as he fucking could as long as Des'Noir had eyes on ZK....Atra did too. He realized his ring was still lit. And realized, anything was fucking possible. First off he undid his soul resonance compressing his soul wavelength around himself compacting it to a point where it seemed that it could take on anything Des'Noir retreated into his shadow and ZK hit Atra, and boy did he hit him atra didn't have enough time to turn everything in his body to shadow so there was internal damage on top of that Atra used his ring again causing him to cough up more blood. Atra was bleeding from his mouth but it was a fair trade ZK was in for a world of perpetual pain.*

"Heh...."

*The pain wasn't as bad as the after affects that it did to the planet but ZK's foot was caught in Atra's chest and Des'Noir shadow possessed ZK the kind that stops the mass of the person from moving, mass, thought, and soul. Des'Noir fed their soul wavelength into ZK giving internal damage a new meaning. Des'Noir could do this all day as long as ZK was caught here in Atra's chest. He had to make him say uncle and then he'd quit. But Atra didn't have long either since ZK's chakras of his foot was the only thing still going. Good thing ZK didn't have access to it.*

~Looked like this yellow power was a bit of a problem. It was the only thing that saved Atra from the foot. ZK was baffled and confounded how power like that is obtained. Acceleration of anything is so broken... But yes, ZK was quite caught and in very much pain. So much so that he was forced into a dragonlike roar reminiscent of Kotonryu's old calling card. It echoed far and wide, but eventually receded back into a normal human yell of pain.

ZK landed his free foot on the ground, trying desperately to yank his leg free. Atra had quite the hold on him, but ZK was going to get out one way or another. In a last effort, ZK cocked back and punched the dog shit out of Atra's face, leaving enough force between the two of them for ZK to rip his leg free of Atra's chest and fall back to the ground, shaking. Tremors riddled him as he grunted through the pain to speak to Atra.~

So... I'm pretty spent... But I could g-- Go on if I... I wanted. What about... you?

*Atra staggered back, Des'Noir did the same on his own. Perhaps he figured Atra was finished... he was. He had no intention of dying here. The hole in his chest however was going to be an issue. The two des'noir from earlier assimilated into atra's being. A temporary fix for a larger problem that was going to take some rest to let his body catch up to this hyper activation.*

"Hyper Activation... the power of the Sun Flame. If you use it on yourself you die. So I use it with my shadows instead."

*Atra said taking a knee, he huffed and puffed spitting out blood. Clearly he was more damaged than ZK who said he had the will to continue. But with his soul inside of him the fight was over. With a flex of muscle Des'Noir extracted Atra's soul from ZK causing him pain of course but it was good for him.*

~ZK groans once more, loudly as Atra's soul is taken from him. He writhes on the ground like a newborn child for a moment and twitches like a sleeping dog. He works through the lessening tremors and stands to his feet, facing Atra with a pained smile on his face.~

I can only hope you read my mind... but yeah, that's cool. You good bro?

~ZK watched Atra spit up blood, a bit astonished that he'd go to such lengths to win. ZK would have just dodged the move and conceded. Maybe not that simply, but a wound that grave is unneceessary. No need to blast a whole in his own chest, y'know?~

*Atra lay down on his back. Des'Noir receding into his shdaow Atra passed out sleep with an accomplished smirk on his face enjoying what happened to him indeed. Seeking the fulfill ment in the battle.*